Iceland's Top 2% Scientists 2025: Career-Long List

Iceland has 78 scientists on the 2025 career-long Top 2% list, up 23.8% from 63 in 2024. That places Iceland 64th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 1 place. Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists (33), followed by Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland (9).

Single Year

+7 (+11.9%) vs 2024

Career Data

+15 (+23.8%) vs 2024

World rank by count

#64

down 1 place vs 2024

Institutes

+8 (+66.7%) vs 2024

Scientists in Iceland on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 81% since 2020.

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+16.3%

2022+10.0%

2023+16.4%

2024-1.6%

2025+23.8%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	42		43
2021	51	+21.4%	50	+16.3%
2022	51	+0.0%	55	+10.0%
2023	57	+11.8%	64	+16.4%
2024	59	+3.5%	63	-1.6%
2025	66	+11.9%	78	+23.8%

Top 10 institutes in Iceland

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2025

Show the list

All 78 scientists

Career-long list2025

Everyone on the list, free to browse.

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Rank in Iceland	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	894	AI Akyìldìz, Ian Fuat	Haskoli Islands	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 4
2	5,980	BE BjÖrnssÖn, Einar Stefán	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 100
3	6,616	CS Campana, Steven E.	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 5
4	7,653	BJ Benediktsson, Jón Atli	Haskoli Islands	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 19
5	8,738	LT Loftsson, Thorsteinn	Haskoli Islands	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 55
6	20,729	SE Stefánsson, Einar	Haskoli Islands	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 98
7	22,089	SK Stefánsson, Kári	deCODE genetics	Developmental Biology	Rank 844
8	27,907	SH Sigurdsson, Haraldur	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 465
9	28,406	JH Jónsson, Hannes	Haskoli Islands	Chemical Physics	Rank 612
10	29,435	GV Gudnason, V. G.	Icelandic Heart Association	Developmental Biology	Rank 1,064
11	42,655	ST Sawik, Tadeusz J.	Reykjavík University	Operations Research	Rank 137
12	49,293	PH Pettinati, Helen M.	Vogur Hospital	Substance Abuse	Rank 158
13	55,125	AS Arnórsson, Stefàn A.	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 948
14	56,807	KS Kozieł, Sławomir Marcin	Reykjavík University	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 480
15	62,070	AI Agnarsson, Ingi	Haskoli Islands	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 542
16	66,998	HM Halldórsson, Magnús M.	Reykjavík University	Computation Theory & Mathematics	Rank 171
17	68,851	SA Stefánsson, Andri	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,206
18	72,027	TT Thordarson, Thor	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,257
19	72,432	PM Parnham, Michael John	EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 634
20	74,031	KH Kristinsson, Hördur G.	Haskoli Islands	Food Science	Rank 404
21	75,396	VH Valdimarsson, Helgi	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Immunology	Rank 2,085
22	77,355	KÁ Kristjánsson, Árni Kjalar	Haskoli Islands	Experimental Psychology	Rank 918
23	78,144	BH Björnsson, Helgi	Haskoli Islands	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 1,199
24	79,733	KS Kristinsson, Sigurdur Yngvi	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Immunology	Rank 2,188
25	82,113	MB Magnadóttir, Bergljót	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 178
26	84,996	SB Sigurgeirsson, Bárdur	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 532
27	86,534	YS Young, Susan J.	Reykjavík University	Psychiatry	Rank 1,537
28	89,792	LJ Ludden, John N.	KMT	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,574
29	93,438	GT Gíslason, Thórarinn	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Respiratory System	Rank 910
30	93,632	SF Sigmundsson, Freysteinn	Nordic Volcanological Center	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,642
31	97,745	EP Einarsson, Páll	Nordic Volcanological Center	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,711
32	98,962	GS Gíslason, Sigurður Reynir	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,736
33	104,310	KK Kristinsson, Karl Gustaf	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Microbiology	Rank 2,603
34	105,059	JJ James, Jack E.	Reykjavík University	Clinical Psychology	Rank 362
35	106,356	GD Gudbjartsson, Daníel Fannar	Haskoli Islands	Developmental Biology	Rank 2,999
36	110,176	SH Stéfansson, Hreinn	deCODE genetics	Developmental Biology	Rank 3,086
37	110,254	GG Gudmundsson, Gunnar B.	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Respiratory System	Rank 1,050
38	113,140	RK Ragnarsdóttir, Kristín Vala	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,950
39	120,456	PB Pjetursson, Bjarni Elvar	Haskoli Islands	Dentistry	Rank 695
40	126,899	EJ Einarsdóttir, Jo´Hanna	Haskoli Islands	Education	Rank 833
41	137,485	BJ Björnsson, Jóhannes	Akureyri Regional Hospital	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 5,149
42	148,302	TH Tulinius, Hrafn	Haskoli Islands	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 5,514
43	152,819	SE Skúlason, Egill	Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans	Physical Chemistry	Rank 538
44	152,829	MM Másson, Már	School of Health Sciences	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,430
45	159,314	GS Gizurarson, Sveinbjörn	School of Health Sciences	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,498
46	161,025	LG Lucas, Gavin	Haskoli Islands	Archaeology	Rank 165
47	166,743	KJ Kristjánsson, Jakob Kr	Hripa ehf	Microbiology	Rank 4,036
48	170,884	TL Tryggvadóttír, Laufey	Icelandic Cancer Registry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 6,300
49	177,104	RV Rafnsson, Vilhjálmur	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Environmental & Occupational Health	Rank 177
50	177,999	TH Thormar, Halldór	Haskoli Islands	Microbiology	Rank 4,289
51	186,317	ÁR Árnason, Ragnar Adolf	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 514
52	189,956	RT Rùnarsson, Thomas Philip	Haskoli Islands	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 4,116
53	199,678	WB Wu, Bing	Haskoli Islands	Chemical Engineering	Rank 1,072
54	200,200	GR Geirsson, Reynir Tómas	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 1,908
55	206,136	JF Jónasson, Fridbert	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 1,520
56	223,806	SG Sigurdsson, Gíiasli Heimir	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Anesthesiology	Rank 934
57	230,345	SG Stefánsson, Gunnar	Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans	Fisheries	Rank 714
58	231,454	IK Ingolfsdottir, Kristin	Haskoli Islands	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 988
59	252,297	BB Björnsson, Björn Th	Marine and Freshwater Research Institute	Fisheries	Rank 814
60	256,548	SE Svavarsdottir, Erla Kolbrun	School of Health Sciences	Nursing	Rank 851
61	271,511	SI Shelykh, Ivan Andreevich	Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans	Applied Physics	Rank 7,422
62	282,287	LK Leósson, Kristján	DTE ehf	Optics	Rank 1,138
63	287,892	WL Wang, Lulu	Reykjavík University	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 2,943
64	289,526	HW Holbrook, William Peter	Haskoli Islands	Dentistry	Rank 1,873
65	290,683	KG Kristjánsdóttir, Gudrún	School of Health Sciences	Nursing	Rank 1,034
66	297,322	JH Jónsdóttir, H.	School of Health Sciences	Nursing	Rank 1,070
67	297,375	GD Gautam, Dipendra	Haskoli Islands	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 386
68	302,392	HS Halldórsdóttir, Sigrídur	Háskólinn á Akureyri	Nursing	Rank 1,099
69	307,392	WJ Wallevik, Jon Elvar	Icelandic Meteorological Office	Building & Construction	Rank 987
70	341,325	SH Sveinsdóttir, Herdís	School of Health Sciences	Nursing	Rank 1,276
71	346,741	MT Magnusson, Thor	Haskoli Islands	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 7,988
72	352,292	AL Aceto, Luca	Reykjavík University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 8,124
73	373,896	ES Erlingsson, Sigurður	Haskoli Islands	Logistics & Transportation	Rank 785
74	378,508	VP Voosen, Paul	The Krafla	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 5,049
75	390,992	DB Davidsdottir, Brynhildur	Haskoli Islands	Energy	Rank 6,896
76	465,808	HV Hafstein, Valdimar Tr	Haskoli Islands	Folklore	Rank 3
77	509,951	HE Hyytiä, Esa	Haskoli Islands	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 5,628
78	510,544	TK Thórisson, Kristinn R.	Reykjavík University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 12,382
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Showing 1 to 78 of 78 Show

Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2025

Iraq79 scientists

Kuwait79 scientists

Colombia78 scientists

Luxembourg65 scientists

Oman62 scientists

Indonesia57 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2025

United Kingdom20,571 scientists

Sweden3,471 scientists

Denmark2,207 scientists

Finland1,532 scientists

Norway1,493 scientists

Ireland881 scientists

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Iceland are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?

66 scientists affiliated with Iceland are on the 2025 single-year list, and 78 are on the career-long list.

Which institute in Iceland has the most Top 2% scientists?

On the 2025 career-long list, Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists from Iceland, with 33. It is followed by Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland with 9.

How has the number of Top 2% scientists in Iceland changed since 2020?

On the career-long list, Iceland went from 43 scientists in 2020 to 78 in 2025, a change of +81.4%.

What is the difference between the single-year and career-long lists?

The single-year list ranks scientists on the citations their work received in one year. The career-long list ranks them on citations across their whole career. Both lists are published every year, and a scientist can be on one, both or neither.

What is the official source of this data?

The rankings come from the science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators published by Ioannidis et al. in the Elsevier Data Repository, updated every year. TOPSCINET, an independent platform, organises that data by country, year, institute and field, so you can compare and explore it.